This week, the 2026 Winter Olympic Games will gather together athletes from across the globe as they compete for the top prizes in their respective sports.
Thankfully, we can follow all of the action from this year’s Winter Olympics from the comfort of our own homes.
To help you get ready to catch the event, Watch With Us has put together a brief primer on how to watch the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Almost everything you need to know about this year’s sporting events can be found here.
2026 Winter Olympics Experience Power Outage Just 4 Minutes Into 1st Event
How to Watch the 2026 Winter Olympics
Technically, the games started on February 4 with a handful of team sports. But the official beginning of the 2026 Winter Olympics is set for the opening ceremony. NBC and Peacock will carry that event live on Friday, February 6, at 11:00 a.m. PST / 2:o0 p.m. EST. There will be a condensed prime-time edit of the opening ceremony later that night on NBC at 5:00 p.m PST / 8:00 p.m. EST.
Every day through February 22, NBC will broadcast select events during the day, while Peacock will have them all. NBC will also have nightly highlights at 5:00 p.m PST / 8:00 p.m. EST, as well as a late-night edition of the highlights. NBC has also posted a broadcast schedule for each day of the Winter Olympics. This schedule is subject to change if something unforeseen arises, but the games will likely stay as close to the scheduled times as possible.
The closing ceremony will be shown on NBC and Peacock on February 22 at 11:30 a.m. PST / 2:30 p.m. EST. NBC will air the closing ceremony again at 6:00 p.m PST / 9:00 p.m. EST.
How Many Events Are There in This Year’s Winter Olympics?
There are 16 sports that will be featured at the 2026 Winter Olympics, but 116 medal events in total. There are several different breakdowns in many of the categories, but some of the most popular events are included below:
- Hockey
- Alpine Skiing
- Figure Skating
- Speed Skating
- Snowboarding
- Curling
- Freestyle Skiing
- Luge
2026 Winter Olympics Experience Power Outage Just 4 Minutes Into 1st Event
Who Are the Athletes Competing at the Winter Olympics?
2,900 athletes from across the world have come to Italy for this year’s Winter Olympics. So don’t feel too overwhelmed if you don’t know all of them. There are, however, some famous faces making their return to the games this year, including snowboarders Nick Baumgartner and Faye Thelen, bobsledders Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor, figure skater Evan Bates, hockey player Hilary Knight, and alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, all of whom are appearing for their 5th Winter Olympics.
All eyes will be on Vonn because she ruptured her ACL in a crash on January 30. Regardless, Vonn intends to compete at this year’s games, and her success or failure will likely be one of the biggest stories of the event.
Here are some of the other prominent athletes from this year’s games.
Ice Hockey
- Auston Matthews (USA)
- Hilary Knight (USA)
- Laila Edwards (USA)
- Connor McDavid (Canada)
- Sidney Crosby (Canada)
Snowboarding
- Chloe Kim (USA),
- Red Gerard (USA).
- Ayumu Hirano (Japan)
- Kokomo Murase (Japan)
- Scotty James (Australia)
- Anna Gasser (Austria)
Freestyle Skiing
- Alex Hall (USA)
- Nick Goepper (USA)
- Jaelin Kauf (USA)
- Eileen Gu (China)
Figure Skating
- Ilia Malinin (USA)
- Amber Glenn (USA)
- Isabeau Levito (USA)
- Yuma Kagiyama (Japan)
- Mone Chiba (Japan)
Alpine Skiing
- Mikaela Shiffrin (USA),
- River Radamus (USA)
- Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA)
- Sofia Goggia (Italy)
Behind-the-Scenes on Team USA’s Dramatic Journey to the 2026 Winter Olympics
Where Are the 2026 Winter Olympics Being Held?
Several of this year’s Winter Olympic competitions are set to take place in San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy. Events like Alpine Skiing will be held in various parts of the country.
